Puzzle of my Heart
by xMorbidxAngelx
Summary: Itachi/Sakura
1. Chapter 1

Itachi looked up as the scent of cherries filled his senses. He had been sitting quietly under a tree on the training grounds resting from his vigorous training when he suddenly caught the enticing scent. Sighing he leaned back against the rough bark of the tree and breathed the scent in deeply, trying to commit the smell to memory. He wondered where it was coming from and curiosity got the better of him when he heard voices coming closer. Quickly, he stood up and leapt into the branches of the tree above him, masking his chakra as he did so.

_**It's the way she fills my senses**_

_**It's the perfume that she wears**_

From his hidden position he had a perfect view of the training grounds and its new occupants. Approaching the now empty field were five figures. They came closer and sat down beneath his tree, not knowing who sat hidden in its luscious foliage. His younger brother, Sasuke, leaned back against a nearby tree and closed his eyes, his face distorted by an expression of mild annoyance. Beside him sat Sai with his usual smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. The artist pulled a sketch book out of his bag and began drawing, not taking notice of Naruto's whining. Itachi smirked as he saw Kakashi bury his head in his dirty novel, obviously deciding to leave the last team member to deal with Naruto.

It was this person who caught Itachi's attention. Directly below him sat a young woman, he assumed her to be 20 years old seeing as she seemed to be on the same team as his brother. Haruno Sakura, medic nin and apprentice to the Hokage. He had heard of her, everyone had. He had even spoken to her, been healed by her after some of his missions. She was famous for inheriting the Tsunade's bad temper and inhuman strength, although he had yet to witness either and was frankly quite sceptical of those claims, brushing them off as exaggerations. It seemed impossible for the woman who sat demurely beneath his tree to be as violent as stories claimed. Her long pink hair shone in the sunlight and fell down her back in soft waves to almost reach her waist. The colour was breathtaking in the sunlight and he suddenly felt the urge to run his fingers through it to see if it was a soft as it looked.

_**I feel I'm losing my defences**_

_**To the colour of her hair**_

After what seemed like an eternity, Kakashi snapped his book shut and looked up with a smile. He looked at his students for a moment as he decided on their sparring partners. Eventually, he paired Sai with Naruto and Sasuke with Sakura. This intrigued Itachi. Could this girl truly be good enough for her to be good enough to compete with his brother? Mentally he slapped himself; she had to be good to reach jounin level! He watched as Sai and Naruto walked off to the other side of the field, trading insults as they went and his eyes were drawn back down when his brother stood up and stood in the centre of the field, waiting for his partner. Said partner was still seated on the ground. She opened her kunai pouch and withdrew a pair of black gloves and pulled them over her hands as she rose to her feet. Itachi's breath caught in his throat as he watched her stretch. Her legs were long and he noted that she had curves in all the right places as she bent down to secure her knee high black boots, unknowingly giving him a very good view of her derriere. Sakura grinned at his brother and at that moment, Itachi knew that her face would appear in his dreams for many nights to come.

_**And every little piece of her is right**_

_**Just thinking about her**_

_**Takes me through the night**_

Several days later, he met her on her way home from the hospital in the ever present company of his brother and Naruto. Having known Naruto for many years, he nodded in acknowledgement of his wild waving and stopped, waiting for them to catch up with him. Sasuke looked as unimpressed as ever while Sakura smiled sweetly at him as they approached. The innocence and beauty of her smile almost made him return it, just to see to the smile a little longer. Almost. Instead, he nodded his head in her direction, his eyes softening slightly as he did so.

"Itachi! We're getting ramen! Want to come?" Naruto asked in his usual exuberant manner.

"Naruto!" Sakura admonished gently. "Itachi-san probably has things to do."

Sasuke snorted. "Why would he want to come and have ramen with you anyway?"

Just as Naruto was about to respond to his friend's implied insult, Itachi surprised them all when he interrupted the impending argument.

"I will come with you."

It was a simple statement but it shocked the three jounin beside him. Naruto yelled in triumph and Sasuke shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets forcefully. However, the two males' reactions were not what concerned him. Discreetly, he looked at Sakura to find her smiling brightly.

_**Every time we meet**_

_**The picture is complete**_

As they walked to the small restaurant, Itachi fell into step beside Sakura, trying to get as far away as possible from his brother and Naruto as they argued loudly. Sakura looked up as she noticed his presence beside her. She smiled at him and was surprised when he gave her a smile in return. It was what could only be described as the ghost of a smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Sakura sat down beside Itachi, leaving Sasuke and Naruto to bicker on the other side of the table. As she took her seat, her bare arm brushed against Itachi and his breath hitched in his throat. Her arm rubbed against his as she flipped through the pages of the small menu in front of her. She didn't seem to mind the contact and didn't seem to realise the inner turmoil she was causing the stoic Uchiha. Her skin was ever bit as soft as it looked and Itachi wondered what it would be like to run his hands across her smooth skin, what it would be like to hold her small, delicate hands in his own.

_**Every time we touch**_

_**The feeling is too much **_

_**She's all I'll ever need**_

_**To fall in love again**_

_**I knew it from the very start**_

_**She's the puzzle of my heart**_

Over the next few weeks, Itachi went out of his way to be around her. He would inexplicably be near the hospital when she finished work or would somehow be in the same restaurant as she and her teammates visited every day for lunch. He watched her learned to read her expressions. She seemed to smile all the time. Genuine smiles that made his knees weak and his heart race. There seemed to be no way to bring her spirits down. She argued with Sasuke and Naruto and still seemed to be nothing other than happy. As he watched her, he came to realise that the mere thought of tears falling from those beautiful eyes was painful. It was then that he decided to do everything in his power to keep her smiling so that he never had to see tears fall from her eyes.

_**It's the way she's always smiling**_

_**That makes me think she never cries**_

_**I feel like I'm losing my defences**_

_**To the colour of her eyes**_

Gradually, they became friends. He ate lunch with her and her teammates on the days he had no missions. They would walk to the hospital together after lunch and then he would offer to walk her home after work. She'd laugh and politely decline, he would nod but be waiting outside the doors for her anyway. They became almost inseparable, best friends and then lovers. It seemed like a natural progression. He began to realise how much he missed her when he was away. How much he simply wanted to get home to hold her in his arms and shower her with kisses – to show her how much he loved her.

_**Like a miracle she's meant to be**_

_**She became the light inside of me**_

_**And I can feel her like a memory**_

_**From long…ago**_

Then it came. The news he had always dreaded. Two years into their relationship, Sakura had been sent to Suna by the Hokage with an urgent message for the Kazekage. Itachi had wanted to plead with her to turn the mission down, but he knew it was pointless. She had already accepted it and nothing would change her mind. Beside, Kakashi was going with her and he could look after her just as well as Itachi could. He walked with her to the gate where they found her old sensei waiting, engrossed in his novel as always. He took her hand in his and slid a ring onto her finger and kissed her palm gently, his eyes never leaving hers. Itachi watched as her eyes widened and then fill with tears as she leapt towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder.

"I'll take that as a yes then," he said with a smirk.

Sakura's response was to sob louder and tighten her grip on him. Eventually she quietened and looked up at him, smiling broadly. Returning her smile, Itachi leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips which she returned with passion. He wrapped his arms around her slim waist and hugged her before placing one last kiss on her soft lips. She had smiled at him, waved and promised to return by the end of the week before running off to where Kakashi was waiting for her.

And return at the end of the week she did, but not how Itachi had hoped. He remembered being summoned to the Hokage's office along with Naruto, Sasuke and the rest of the Rookie 9 and their teachers as well as Team Gai. They crowded into the office and stood silently before an unusually sombre Tsunade. Shizune stood beside her chair, eyes downcast and lip trembling. After a seemingly endless couple of minutes, Tsunade cleared her throat and leaned her elbows on the desk, resting her chin on top of her hands as she looked up at the assembled Jounin with red eyes and a tear streaked face.

"There has been an accident and I thought you should be the first to know," she said quietly, her voice lacking its usual authority.

As she spoke the words, a chill raced down Itachi's spine. Dread filled his being a he clenched his fists at his sides. He looked around the room and saw the jounin looking at the subdued Hokage curiously, while their teachers showed grave expressions as if they too knew what to expect.

"On the way back from Suna, Kakashi and Sakura were attacked," her voiced cracked slightly and she paused to collect herself. "We don't know by who or why. They are both at the hospital as we speak."

Her last statement brought hope to Itachi. She was at the hospital. She was alive! Glancing around the room, he noticed the door opening and Kakashi walking in. The man walked over to where Naruto and Sasuke stood with a slight limp and looked at the Hokage with an unusually serious expression.

"Both were badly injured and the medics have healed Kakashi as best they can," she said with a nodded at the limping man. Sasuke and Naruto turned to look at their old sensei with a questioning gaze which he carefully avoided. Tsunade cleared her throat again. "However, we tried what we could, but unfortunately, Sakura passed away only an hour ago," her voice broke and tears slipped down her cheeks as she leaned forward to hide her face.

The news hit them like a blow to the chest and all the jounin stood speechless. After a moment, Ino turned and sobbed into Shikamaru's vest while he patted her awkwardly on the back, still trying to take the news in. Shino and Kiba tried what they could to comfort Hinata as silent tears slid down her face much like Tenten who sat down heavily beside Lee who was sobbing into Gai's shoulder. Kakashi put his hands on Naruto and Sasuke's shoulders in a gesture of comfort.

After a moment, Tsunade raised red eyes to the group of distraught jounin before her. "If you wish to pay last respects, she will remain at the hospital until tonight."

Itachi walked into the cold room where he had seen all her friends go. Kakashi walked towards him, making for the exit and put a hand on his shoulder but said nothing. There was nothing to say. Nothing could be said in such a situation. There were no words of comfort that could be spoken to make the pain go away, only the knowledge that others were there for him.

The older man left and he made his way towards the bed where her body lay. She looked as though she were asleep and how he wished it were so. Her pale skin was marred by small cuts on her arms, but her face looked peaceful, long lashes casting shadows on her cheeks. Lifting a hand, he gently ran it down her cheek and across the lips that he loved to kiss. He half expected her eyes to open and a smile to cross her lips when she saw him. She was his one true love and it broke his heart that she would no longer be with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Now, many months later, a lone tear ran down his cheek as he sat in front of the memorial stone, his eyes glued to the spot where her name was engraved. Every night Itachi felt an acute sense of loss as he climbed into their bed alone and it was only made worse by waking up and seeing her side of the bed empty. His days were spent training hard, promising himself that he would find and kill the people that took the light from his life. Nights were spent tossing and turning as dreams of Sakura plagued him. Eventually, it became too much to bear and he knew he had to have revenge, if not for her sake then for his. He could no longer take the loneliness that haunted his every waking moment.

After months of searching he found the men that took her life and he took theirs, but not without taking damage himself. They had been more powerful than he had anticipated. Found by Konoha ninja, he was returned to the village and placed in hospital. In his semi-conscious state, he could hear words that suggested to him that his end was near. He opened his eyes and saw his brother standing over him, worry evident on his face. Itachi smiled at him and reached out to him. Sasuke took his hand, for once not caring what others may say.

"My time has come…" he said in a soft voice.

Sasuke violently shook his head. "No, not yet."

"No more pain, no more memories."

"Nii-san! You're not going to die!"

"It's time Sasuke. Let me go and be with her again," Itachi gave him a vague, but genuine smile.

Shocked, Sasuke stared at his brother and then nodded in understanding and squeezed his hand. "Good bye, nii-san," he said softly as he watched his brother's eye close for a final time.

Sasuke bent his head and let silent tears flow down his cheeks as he clutched his brother's hand. After a moment, he stood up and walked towards the door, but turned just before he opened it. Itachi's face was calm, almost happy and Sasuke knew that his brother was in a better place. He had grieved for Sakura after her death. Everyone had, but no one more so than Itachi.

Shaking his head, Sasuke opened the door and looked towards his brother one last time. He smiled as he pictured the pair of them together in his mind. He was sure that Sakura was waiting for him with open arms and as he closed the door to his brother's room, he knew that the pair of them would be as happy together in death as they were in life.


End file.
